The present invention relates to devices for sensing the presence of an object in a storage compartment, in particular a minibar. It also relates to a system for the remote collection of data originating from these sensor devices.
Hotel operators are particularly aware of the growing problems linked to the management of minibar installations. They encounter both difficulties in correctly invoicing consumption which is often based on erroneous consumption data supplied by the clients themselves at the end of their stay or collected by staff, and difficulties in efficiently managing the daily restocking of these minibars. Furthermore, they wish to be able to vary the price of the articles consumed in the minibar according to the type of client and particular events.
Systems for sensing objects intended for minibar management using presence sensors are already known for example by Patent DE-A-42 40 623.
There are also known models of minibars equipped with object presence sensors using feelers, which have the drawback however of being sensitive to impact and containing mechanical parts to form the contacts which may deteriorate over time. There are also infrared sensor devices which have the drawback of having a sensory response which is sometimes sensitive to the external characteristics of the object to be detected, in particular its color and packaging, and of implementing links by optical fibers which over time entail connection reliability problems.
Current devices have the common drawback of only providing information on the object's presence or absence, and do not therefore allow a truly quantitative and qualitative management of storage compartments and in particular minibars.